The Department of Agriculture (USDA) established its detector dog program in 1984, at Los Angeles International Airport with one team consisting of a beagle and a canine handler. APHIS tried a variety of dog breeds and worked with Customs Service to develop a detector dog program. After selecting beagles as the agency's detector dogs, APHIS worked with the military at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas to train Beagle Brigade teams. APHIS opened three regional training centers and began training its own teams in 1987. The three training centers were then combined into one national training center in Orlando, Fla.

About 2 million interceptions of prohibited agricultural products are made every year. Of that number, the detector dog program averages around 75,000 seizures. There are currently 141 detector dogs teams around the United States primarily located at 24 international airports, nine land border ports of entry, and nine major international mail facilities.

The Beagle Brigade
APHIS selected beagles because of their acute sense of smell and their gentle nature with people. Beagles' natural love of food makes them effective detectives and happy to work for treats. APHIS found that most beagles will remain calm in crowded, noisy locations such as busy airport baggage claim areas. These dogs are bright, inquisitive, active hounds whose sense of smell makes them curious wanderers by nature. They also serve as ambassadors for the importance of agricultural quarantine work, making hundreds of public appearances yearly.

Beagles are among the healthiest of all dog breeds. They are loyal, courageous, obedient, and patient. Beagles travel well and are equally at home indoors and outdoors. Because of their curiosity, intelligence, high response to food, and superior sense of smell, beagles emerged as the obvious choice to be used for APHIS's detective work.

Canine candidates for the Beagle Brigade are donated by private owners and breeders or selected from animal shelters. They go through temperament testing before being accepted for training. Any dog that fails this test or is dropped from the training program is put up for adoption.

Photo Credit: USDA AHPHIS

A member of the world-famous Beagle Brigade searches for contraband food items in a passenger's luggage.

During the 8 to 12 weeks of training, the dogs are taught to respond passively by sitting when they smell the scent of citrus fruit, mango, apple, beef, or pork. The dogs receive food rewards for desired responses. At the end of training, the Beagle Brigade teams are transferred to their duty stations and spend at least a week practicing with a seasoned handler onsite before working full-time.

After six months to one year of experience, beagles can usually find prohibited material correctly 80 percent of the time. Their success rate rises to about 90 percent after two years of experience. Canine teams are continually training to detect new odors throughout their career. Some beagles have been known to distinguish nearly 50 different odors during their six- to nine-year career.

Other APHIS Dog Programs
Other detector dog programs were designed to work in the main distribution centers for international mail using larger breeds of dogs. The reason is that postal dogs usually have to climb and search on the large conveyor belts that carry the mail, and some smaller dogs are not suited for that work. These dogs work in international post offices in Oakland, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; and Chicago, Ill. More teams will be added to other U.S. post offices in the future.

APHIS also has other dog teams, using medium- to large-breed dogs, which work at northern and southern land border stations inspecting pedestrians, buses, and vehicles. Other dog teams inspect cargo at international airports and maritime ports.

During fiscal year 2002, APHIS detector dogs searched 43,641 aircraft, 22,536 vehicles, and over 8 million passengers.

APHIS has also provided assistance and training to agriculture officials in other countries who want to start their own detector dog programs. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Guatemala, Mexico, and South Korea have all received assistance from the USDA's detector dog program and APHIS officials.

This is the first in a 4-part series to introduce the canines of Customs and Border Protection. Next month - the Border Patrol canine program.